Fond-des-Blancs (English: Whites Valley) is a communal section located in the Southern department of Haiti in the Aquin Arrondissement.
This is a place where Haitians have blonde hair and green eyes. It is the home of many people of Polish descent who have fought for the Haitian resistance during the Napoleonic Wars, after switching sides from fighting within the French regiments. They were offered Haitian citizenship after the rebellion was over.
Location in Haiti
Welcome sign
About[]
Fond-des-Blancs is a mountainous community, accessible by 3 to 5 hours drive from Port-au-Prince depending on traffic. Among the neglected places of Haiti by the political decision-makers, Fond-des-Blancs, communal section of the Southern department is one of them. The inhabitants, many colored people, live among cousins in good harmony. This virgin, untapped and unexplored country suffers from a huge infrastructure deficit at all levels. Otherwise, it would have been a small jewel considering its calm and its splendid greenery, found a reporter of Haiti Press Network, passing through the region during the Easter weekend. Report Located in the confines of the southern department of Haiti, nature is still green in Fond-des-Blancs, 9th communal section of the town of Aquin. But to get there, it is difficult to walk 18 kilometers of rocky dirt road.
History[]
In this city of after the independence war of 1804, some of the Polish soldiers in the French Service refused to fight against the blacks, supporting the principles of liberty. Today, the descendants of those Poles who stayed are living in Casale and Fond-des-Blancs, which are connected to many popular cities of Haiti.
Economy[]
Fond-des-Blancs
Fond-des-Blancs marketplace
Daily living is challenging, from a socio-economic point of view. Economic activities are rare in Fond-des-Blancs. There are two trading venues: Saint-Thon and Lhomond markets, which operate on Mondays, Fridays and Wednesdays respectively. The conditions of existence call for improvement in this secondary zone of the country. Moreover, farmers do very little cultivation of the land, because of the plots of land they have and the total lack of irrigation canals in the region. However, the river "Lhomond" which crosses the road leading to the central district of Fond-des-Blancs and which represents a real obstacle to vehicles and pedestrians when it is in flood mode, offers many potentialities to irrigate the Earth. Agriculture is very little noticed in several places of Fond-des-Blancs. Discouraged, the farmers seem to have definitely left the tools. Except machetes and axes that still represent real enemies for the trees, slaughtered for charcoal making and / or for cooking survival foods. "We have serious problems here, especially in agriculture. There are no irrigation canals. We cultivate the earth hoping that the rain comes to our rescue. But nature is not always lenient, " complains Tido, a farmer who still feeds a little faith in the arid soil.
The economic slump is a real obstacle to community life. Many adults are unemployed. Young people, for the most part, are left to their own devices. Some easily fall into idleness when they can not indulge in motorcycle taxi.
Infrastructure[]
Education
As for education, it is not quality at Fond-des-Blancs.
A visitor described his experience regarding the commute to school:
"The jeep bounced up and down on a one-lane dirt road that many people would mistake for a dried riverbed, it was so uneven and rutted. As St. Boniface’s Communications Intern I was visiting the hub of our operations in Fond des Blancs, and taking a day to tour schools. But we were several kilometers from any school or town when the driver stopped next to a teenage girl. She was walking in a neat school uniform, solid and checked navy in the heavy sun, carrying a book bag. The driver offered her a ride in the St. Boniface Hospital vehicle, and she climbed in.
The driver had recognized her school uniform – each school has a distinctive set of colors – and realized she was heading to Fond des Blancs, the same place we were. There was a stream of Kreyol and Jonas, my translator, turned to me surprised; “she’s already been walking for an hour!” By the end of the trip, I was astounded; it took more than twenty minutes by jeep to get to Fond des Blancs after we picked her up. This eighth grader did that walk of more than two hours twice a day, every school day, in the heat or the mud, to get her education."
Health
In terms of health care, the situation is also very gloomy. An inhabitant who wants to have access to a minimum of care, is obliged to go to Port-au-Prince or to go to the only hospital of Fond-des-Blancs, Saint-Boniface; Work of Father Gouello, former loan of St. Francis Xavier parish. This hospital hosts annually about 30,000 patients from all over Haiti, said a notable area.
Utilities
Private electricity in Fond-des-Blancs, where white settlers took refuge in the time of the colony to escape the assault "Koupe tèt, boul kay" of the Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines, has been dark day and night in the dark since its existence.
Access to electrical power is still out of reach for many. Transportation, location, resources, technology infrastructure and skill sets are particularly some of the prime examples of inaccessibility at Fond-des-Blanc. However, cell phone and internet signals are not a big problem here.
Many locals have hardly seen or used a toilet. Innocent abuse is widespread. For some, much of the day is spent on traveling by donkey or foot! Clean water is collected from nearby streams where women wash their clothing and the same water is shared by cattle, donkeys, sheep and chickens.
Security
Fond-des-Blancs multipurpose center; housing a library, a women's group, among other activities
On the security side, the situation is very precarious. No presence of the national police is noticed at Fond-des-Blancs. Not even a small police station. (Precarious: adj. dependent on chance; uncertain)
A new multi-purpose center however made its way into Fond-des-Blancs. This includes a modern tech library as well as a women's sewing group.
Culture[]
Nevertheless, this communal section offers, despite everything, many potentialities and could be the subject of great curiosities. People are very hospitable and ready to welcome strangers in a way. It must be said that everything is not lost. There is a glimmer of hope in the shadows. Thanks to the dedication and goodwill of the Fond-des-Blancs natives scattered throughout the United States, Canada, France, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana, projects are under way. Sons and daughters of the diaspora, the main spearhead of the community, tirelessly work to raise the level of their locality
Projects include a large secondary school, a modern public market and a prefabricated metal bridge to be thrown on the Lhomond River. Thanks to the assistance of the Minustah, we are also using containers to set up a Peace Court, symbolizing Haitian justice.
Road infrastructures and an electricity network are the main needs of Fond-des-Blancs, which requires serious investments in these specific areas, in the production of goods and services, but also in technical and higher education for young people.
Environment[]
River in Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti
Fond des Blancs with its sparse population of around three thousand invites tourists, who love Coral barriers where they can swim, snorkel and enjoy the exceptional fauna. Legend says it is here where Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon I, and thus the first Empress of the French used to have a bath. It is the perfect place to visit if you are looking for fun.
Neighboring sections
| North 10e Guirand |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| West 6e La Colline |
9e Fond-des-Blancs Aquin |
East  7e Frangipane | |
| South 4e Flamands |
References[]
Learning from Fond-des-Blancs [1]
Fond des Blancs; virgin and unexplored [2]
9 ième Section Communale de Fond-des-Blancs Commune Aquin Plan de Développement [3]
Michael Vedrine